The Connie Blair Boxed Sets

Recently, I had the opportunity to purchase a boxed set of some of the Tempo paperback Connie Blair books.  I already had a set of paperbacks in a slipcase, but this set is enclosed in a box.

 

The above box has a flap that opens to show the books inside. 

Here is the slipcase version of the boxed set.

Note:  I do not have all eight books displayed in the slipcase since it is a tight fit.

I prefer the slipcase version since it displays better.

In regard to both versions of the boxed set, the designer chose an image of Connie that shows her unconscious, which is bizarre.  Perhaps the publisher wanted buyers to think that the books contained graphic content.  Since these were books for children and young adults, I think Connie's face from Puzzle in Purple would have looked much better on the boxed set.

But what do I know?

Big Book Find October 2012

Today I saw an ad for an estate sale that advertised "hundreds of books."  Estate sales almost never have series books, and when they do, the books are of minimal interest and hugely overpriced.  I had this nagging feeling that a big stash of books was waiting for me today, and that I had to go out to find it.  I get this feeling sometimes, and I have to act on it or else I will worry for the rest of the day about what I might have missed.

Gasoline costs too much these days to go out on very many random searches for books, and I did not want to go to yet another estate sale that advertised books and would have absolutely nothing of interest.  I have had very little luck lately.  But I could not shake that nagging feeling that today was a day for a big book find.  Most of the time when I have that feeling, nothing ever comes of it.  Since occasionally I am right, I just cannot ignore it.

I decided to go to the sale even though I would end up burning at least $10 in gasoline.  The estate sale did indeed have hundreds of books, but the books were all modern softcover general fiction books from the last 20 years.  As usual, that sale had books that were of no interest to me.

While I found nothing at that particular estate sale, going to it resulted in me checking a couple other locations which did result in a big book find.  My nagging feeling about a big book find was correct!  Here are photos of some of the books that I purchased.

I purchased a bunch of Hardy Boys books with dust jackets.  One or two of the higher-numbered ones could be first printings, but I have not yet checked to see.  The rest are nowhere near first printings.  Almost all of the books are tweeds.

I purchased a few Hardy Boys picture covers with the original text.  I could have purchased others with the revised text, but I find those to be about impossible to sell so I chose only the original text books.  I purchased three Trixie Belden books.

While great, the above books are not the ones that excited me.  The books seen in the next photos are the ones that thrilled me.

The Three Investigators hardcover editions are always very easy to sell, so I love finding them.  I even found some of the moderately higher-numbered ones, which pleased me greatly.  I will probably initially list the Three Investigators books on Bonanza, but I will most likely use the them to further build my sales on eBay.  I find it much harder to sell boys' series books on Bonanza since my website does not focus on boys' series series.  I have more success on eBay with boys' books.

Remember that the books are out there, and we just have to find them!

Upgrading My Adventure Girls Books

The seller of the Beverly Gray books also had the complete set of Adventure Girls books.  He mentioned the Adventure Girls books before my Beverly Gray package was shipped, but I waited until after I received the Beverly Gray books to indicate my interest.  The seller did not show the spines of any of the books in the photos, so I wanted to make sure that the books were in as good of condition as expected before I bought any additional books.

Since the Beverly Gray books met my expectations, I let the seller know I was interested and was able to purchase the Adventure Girls books on the day that they were listed.  These are the books that I purchased.

These books are in better shape than the ones I already had.  My books were not in very nice shape overall.  The following pictures are of the books that I will be selling as a result of this transaction.

It was neat being able to upgrade all of my early Beverly Gray books and my entire Adventure Girls set.

Upgrading My Beverly Gray Books

Around a month ago, I saw that a seller had listed a bunch of Beverly Gray books on eBay in individual Buy It Now lots ranging from $30 to $65 each.  What caught my eye is that the books appeared to be all very early or first printings and had dust jackets in excellent condition.  I found my A. L. Burt edition books and determined that at least a couple of the Burt books offered by this seller would easily be upgrades to my books.  I determined that the other Burt books might be upgrades and that a good many of the Grosset and Dunlap books might also be upgrades. 

I first bought the Burt books that were of the greatest interest.  Next, I bought the other Burt books.  I then gave it some more thought, since I knew that my overall cost was rising quickly.  Did I want to get all of them?  Not only was this a chance to upgrade a bunch of books, this was also an investment in my Bonanza booth.  The worst case scenario would be that I would be selling some very nice Beverly Gray books in my booth for approximately what I paid for them.  It took around half an hour for me to finish thinking about it, but I ended up purchasing all of the books at a total cost of close to $600.

I was very pleased when I received the books in the mail.  Below, you will see a photograph of the spines, which is the part of the dust jacket that is always in the worst condition.  The spines have light wear, and only one of them is faded.  The front panels are in excellent condition.

Click on the image to see a larger version.

I will be keeping all of the books except for Junior which has a faded spine and is in worse condition than the one I already had.  The rest of the books are in better condition than mine.  Freshman, Sophomore, and Senior appear to be first printings since the jackets list the first four titles.  Career is an early printing and the same printing as mine, but in better shape.

World Cruise and Orient appear to be first printings and are about the same condition as mine.  The main reason I will sell mine is because my copies of these two books have water stains on the back panels of the dust jackets. 

Return is the first printing and slightly better than mine.  Treasure Hunt is the second printing and in better condition than my first printing.  For that title, I will keep both mine and this one.  Reporter and Romance are the first printings and in better shape than mine.

In addition to Junior from the above photo, these are the books from my collection that I will be selling as a result of this transaction.

It is always quite satisfying to buy a number of excellent condition books that are firsts and early printings, especially when those books are upgrades to books in my collection.  I greatly enjoyed this transaction.

Chasing After eBay's Top-Rated Seller

I quit selling on eBay in January 2009 due to low sales and high fees.  I did keep a small and occasional presence on eBay while I moved the rest of my books to Bonanza, known as Bonanzle at that time.  My sales were awful on eBay since I did not have good exposure in eBay's best match search.  eBay was very harsh in how it evaluated sellers via the seller dashboard, and I kept receiving unfair low star ratings, explained here. 

I sold little on eBay from 2009 to around the beginning of 2011.  In 2011, eBay announced that it was giving auctions better visibility and also began consistently giving sellers a number of free auction listings per month.  I took advantage of the free listings and quickly began building my sales up.  I wanted to attain top-rated seller since eBay has told sellers for years how top-rated sellers get better visibility and increased sales.  eBay had become a secondary venue that I could use to move slow-selling books and that I could also use to help drive buyers to Bonanza.

It took me approximately one year to build my sales up to $3000 and 100 transactions.   The requirement is per 12 months and sales constantly roll over from the previous 12 months.  Right at the time that I reached $3000 during the spring of 2012, eBay announced that it was lowering the sales requirement to $1000 and 100 transactions.  This was fine with me, since I would have less trouble keeping up with top-rated seller... or so I thought.

I have had top-rated seller since June, and by August, I was already in danger of losing it.  I now feel like I'm on a hamster wheel, running, running, running, trying to keep up with the sales that are rolling off from one year ago.  So what is the problem?

Now that I am a top-rated seller, eBay has lowered the visibility of top-rated sellers in best match.  After years of telling us that top-rated sellers get better visibility, eBay switches it up again.  Here, one top-rated seller reports how eBay has decided to lower the visibility of top-rated sellers in order to give under-performing sellers a better chance.  I have also read many reports on the message boards of top-rated sellers complaining of reduced visibility and sales cut in half.

When I was not a top-rated seller and was struggling, top-rated sellers had the extra visibility.  I am now a top-rated seller, and eBay lowers the visibility.  Now, why couldn't eBay have done this in, say, late 2008?  eBay, you have lost so much money in the listing and final value fees of the thousands of dollars in books that I have sold on Bonanza in the last four years.  Not that you care.

My current sales problems are also due to eBay once again lowering the visibility of auctions in best match.  I have to use auctions since I refuse to pay eBay a listing fee ever again.  eBay changed the best match algorithm earlier this year to decrease the visibility of auctions.  Part of my success last year on eBay was due to the increased visibility of auctions.

I used Nancy Drew picture cover editions to build up my sales last year.  I explained what I did in the post "Using eBay Effectively."  I had hit upon a method of getting good sales by grouping the picture covers into lots of five to seven books.  I was very successful and probably sold around 30 such lots over a few months.

Nancy Drew picture cover editions are hot right now on eBay. I have tried the same strategy of placing the books in small lots.  I sold a couple of them, but the others have languished.  Why are my lots getting ignored when the picture cover books are so popular right now?  I think my picture cover lots are getting suppressed in best match, which would not be too difficult considering the thousands of Nancy Drew books on eBay.

For other series, suppression in best match cannot be the explanation for low sales.  I have concluded that the seven-day auction model on eBay is no longer viable for average used series books on eBay.  The 30-day fixed price listings are the way to go, but I refuse to pay $0.50 per listing and I refuse to open an eBay store since I have a perfectly fine free store on Bonanza.

Since I know what I am up against, I have to decide how to proceed.  I need around 10 sales by November 20 to keep my top-rated seller status, three more sales by December 20, and 21 more sales by January 20.  The hamster wheel keeps turning.  If I can meet the quota of January 20, then I will not have to sell very many books in the following four months, but I would need to keep at it to try to pull ahead of 100 listings.

I have brainstormed about which books to list on eBay and have removed some books from Bonanza to list on eBay.  I pick books that have been listed for a long time.  I do not wish to take desirable books that I have not had listed long and sacrifice them to eBay.  I choose books that have been up for sale for months, lower the prices, and hope for success.

I did manage to sell enough books in September to meet my October 20 quota and partially meet my November 20 quota, and I plan to use all of my 50 free listings during the next several months in order to meet the sales quotas for the following months.  My greatest obstacle is the extremely low sell-through rate of my eBay auctions, but I plan to keep at it.

A Confused and Problematic Buyer

In July, a buyer bought two Nancy Drew books on Bonanza:  an Applewood Nancy Drew Missing Map with dust jacket and a Grosset and Dunlap Nancy Drew Missing Map with dust jacket.  This is an odd combination, and I mention it since a bunch more happens that is strange.  Normally, buyers do not purchase Applewood reprints and Grosset and Dunlap original editions with the same cover art of the same title in the same transaction.  If they want the Applewood editions, then they buy those exclusively.  It was strange.

Also strange was that the buyer somehow managed to pay twice for the transaction through Checkout by Amazon, perhaps by reloading the screen on the confirmation page.  This was really unusual.  I refunded the duplicate payment and prepared to package the books.  A few minutes later, the buyer paid for a Hardy Boys book with dust jacket.  I packaged the three books together.  I sent a refund for the extra postage paid on the second transaction.

Two days later, the buyer purchased another Hardy Boys book with dust jacket.  With that book, he managed to select a total of 10 freebie Nancy Drew pins.  Bonanza has several freebie settings, and I had the one selected to allow buyers one freebie per book purchased.  Even though Bonanza has the freebie setting of one freebie per item purchased, the number of freebies that can be placed in the cart is unlimited.

Most sellers who offer freebies are aware of this problem, since we have all had at least one buyer try to get extra freebies.  I have been aware of this glitch the entire time I have been on Bonanza, but it has seldom caused a problem.  Prior to this most recent buyer, I have only had two buyers select too many freebies, and they did not try to get anywhere near 10 of them.

I sent a note in the package explaining the freebie policy.  I also edited all of the freebies to have a message in a large and different color of font which was very noticeable explaining that the freebie policy was one freebie per item purchased and that I would not send any freebies above the amount set by my policy.  One day after this transaction, the buyer purchased another Nancy Drew book with dust jacket and placed four freebie pins in the order.  As with the previous order, I did not send the extra pins.

At this point, I decided that in order to stop the buyer that I had to remove the freebie pins from my booth.  I removed the freebie pins, and the buyer did not order again.

I should mention that when I refunded the duplicate payment for the first order that the buyer made, I sent a message explaining that I had sent the refund.  I also had informed the buyer about shipping the first and second orders together and about sending the refund for the extra postage.

Around four days later after the fourth order, I received a message from the buyer telling me that he had a duplicate charge and requested a refund for that charge.  I explained again that I had already processed the refund and directed him how to find the transactions in his Checkout by Amazon account.  The buyer did not answer.

Two months later, I received a message from Checkout by Amazon informing me that this buyer had initiated a credit card dispute for one of the transactions.  He chose the fourth transaction, which is not the one which had the duplicate charge (which I had refunded).  All I can assume is that he did not understand that I had refunded the duplicate charge.  Another possibility is that because he received three packages for four purchases that perhaps he thought I hadn't sent all four books.  Additionally, the buyer could have decided to file a chargeback since I did not send him all of his freebie pins.

I almost sent the buyer a message asking why the chargeback was filed, but I decided not to do it. This buyer seems confused, as evidenced by the request for a refund after a refund had already been sent.  I supplied Amazon with the delivery confirmation number that shows delivery of the package, and I am now awaiting the credit card company's decision.  I understand that I will have to wait around two months before this is resolved one way or the other.  I will update this post once I know the decision.

October 28 Update:  The dispute was found in my favor.

People Who Want to Sell Me Books

I often receive messages from people who want to sell me books.  What frustrates me is that they typically give me no information other than the series title, such as Nancy Drew or Cherry Ames.  As readers of this blog know, I do not enjoy asking sellers questions.  When people contact me wanting to sell me books, I am faced with having to ask a bunch of questions in order to figure out what they have.  This is undesirable.  The result is that I normally advise them to list their books on eBay so that I do not have to engage in an extended question and answer session for books that I most likely do not want.

This is what I told someone from several weeks ago.

You have several options. A good many collectors use eBay to find books, so if you are willing to use eBay, that is the easiest and fastest option. You would list the books in an auction, and if your starting bid is reasonable, the books will sell and will go to a good home.

If you do not want to use eBay, then you could sell your books to a local book store. They might pay less than eBay, and it also depends upon how desirable your books are to them.

Another option is to donate them to your local library. In this case, the library would probably not shelve them but would instead sell them at their library book sale. In that case, the books would eventually find a good home.

I could tell by the response I received that she did not like my answer.  She did not want the library to sell them for $0.25 each as she thought that the books are worth more than that.   Why would the library's selling price matter?  The fact that she was concerned about the price tells me that she was not going to want to sell the books cheap.  I do not need the books for my collection, so I am the last person to approach if someone wants good money for their books.

She also made the comment that she did not want to risk the books ending up in a six-year-old's hands.  Why worry about that?  We cannot control who buys our books or what they do with them.  In fact, if you sell me books, they may very well end up in a six-year-old's hands.  I do not worry about what people do with the books I sell or how old the recipient is.  I know that I have sold vintage Nancy Drew picture cover editions to people who have bought them for their grandchildren.  I doubt that those grandchildren are adults.  The children might abuse the books, but that is not my problem.  I cannot police the world.

I also do not think she was very enthused about eBay.  Well?  It is the best option.  If the books do have value, then I did her a favor.  She will get more for the books than from selling them to me.

Since that exchange, I have decided that I could simply ask for a photograph while advising that a high chance exists that I would not want the books.  If I do that, then I will not miss out on any good books but will not have to spend time seeking information about books I do not want. 

Series Book Questions Late Summer 2012

These are questions that I have received recently.  I have rewritten the questions in my own words so as not to include direct quotes from private communication.

Which Penny Parker books were printed with the glossy frontispiece illustration?

The thick books with good quality paper and a glossy frontispiece go up to Ghost Beyond the Gate. Hoofbeats on the Turnpike and Voice from the Cave can be found in thin books which have good quality paper and a glossy frontispiece. The last five books, Guilt of the Brass Thieves up to The Cry at Midnight, can only be found in thin books with poor quality paper and a plain paper frontispiece.

I found a Beverly Gray A. L. Burt book that was paired with a Grosset and Dunlap jacket.  Do you think that the books came this way, or were they mismatched years later?  Also, I have a Beverly Gray Grosset and Dunlap book that seems to have the insides of a Burt book. 

I have an Orient Burt book that is matched with a Grosset and Dunlap jacket. I have seen and heard of other Burt books that have Grosset and Dunlap jackets. I have read that when Burt went bankrupt and sold the rights to Beverly Gray to Grosset and Dunlap, the Burt books that had already been printed were also sold to Grosset and Dunlap. Grosset and Dunlap then printed its own jackets and put on the books. This means that likely quite a few Burt books have Grosset and Dunlap jackets.

Since Grosset and Dunlap bought the Burt books and printed dust jackets for them, the Grosset and Dunlap jackets were likely paired with the Burt books from the very beginning.

I have also heard that Grosset and Dunlap often bought unbound books from other publishers from their discontinued stock. They probably also ended up with some unbound Beverly Gray books that they bound in their own binding. That would explain any Grosset and Dunlap books that look like a Burt book on the inside.

I found an Outdoor Girls book that has green boards similar to some of the Bobbsey Twins books.  It has a silhouette image of three girls on the cover.  When was this book issued?  I am trying to figure out whether it is matched with the correct dust jacket.

The Outdoor Girls books did switch to solid green boards with the silhouette you described. This happened at about the time that The Outdoor Girls at Cedar Ridge, The Outdoor Girls in the Air, and The Outdoor Girls in Desert Valley were published. I am pretty sure that the last two titles are only available in those boards, but I am not certain about Cedar Ridge.

I have seen many of the other titles with the green boards.  Most likely, all of the other titles went through at least one printing with those boards. The jackets are a match if they list to either one of the last two books or perhaps even the one before. As long as the jackets list to a title near the end of the series, then they should be matches for the books.

Is there a way I can run a search to figure out which of your Nancy Drew books have the 25 chapter texts without having to click on every single listing?

Yes. I am pretty sure that I have a statement in every one of my original text Nancy Drew listings stating that the book has the original text, meaning the 25 chapter version. If you go to the main page of my booth,

(link removed since no longer valid)

and look right above the first line of photos of items that are for sale, you will see a search box towards the right side of the screen. Put the following in the search box:

nancy drew original text

Do not put quotations around it. Enter exactly what you see on the line above. The results page will pull up all of my Nancy Drew books that have the original text.
...........................................................
You will notice from this and previous questions that I am often asked how to find the original text books.  Buyers seem to be overwhelmed trying to figure it out, and this is why they often pay high prices for the Applewood editions.

These buyers know that the original text books have 25 chapters rather than 20 chapters.  Their problem is that they have absolutely no idea how to figure out which listings online have the 25 chapters.  The buyer who asked me this most recent question was clicking on every single one of my listings trying to figure it out.  I'd get frustrated and give up if I were trying to do it that way.

Figuring out whether a Nancy Drew book has the original text is actually quite simple.  If the copyright date is anywhere from 1930 to 1956, the book has the original text with 25 chapters.  It really is that simple.

Sure, some sellers might give the wrong copyright date for a later revised book, but buyers are going to be doomed regardless when encountering one of those sellers, who are usually the ones who do not answer questions correctly.  Most sellers will give the copyright date that actually appears in the book.  So, if the copyright given by the seller is 1930 to 1956, the book has the original text.

This is why I place the original copyright date in the title of each of my listings so that buyers can see by the title that the book has the original text.  I could solve the problem by adding "original text" to the title of each listing, but that would cause the titles to be truncated for being too long.  I would rather keep my titles shorter with the series name, key title words, and copyright date.  It is my great wish that buyers who seek the original text books would figure out that the copyright date gives some very useful information.